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Question

The index of refraction is always larger than or equal to 1, but why is that?

Solution

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Answered 2 years ago
Answered 2 years ago

Index of refraction of certain medium is defined as a ratio of speed of light in vacuum cc and speed of light in that medium υ\upsilon:

n=cυn=\dfrac{c}{\upsilon}

Since the speed of light in any material medium is lower than the speed of light in vacuum cc, denominator in the right part of the equation above (υ\upsilon) will always be lower than the numerator in the right part of the equation above (cc). This means that index of refraction nn will always be greater of equal to 11.

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